- Project report – impact protection at Frankfurt Airport
Impact protection for a loading dock at Frankfurt Airport: 10 millimetres of steel against colliding dollies
How 3 steel fabricators drilled, installed, welded and painted a custom-made impact protection guard from square tube with 10 mm wall thickness in 4 days
A loading dock at Frankfurt Airport does not have an easy life: tugs with their dollies dock every minute, and not every approach is a gentle one. At an international express and parcel service provider, this had consequences – the system had suffered massively from the rough approach of the dollies.
Our task: additional impact protection for the front area of the loading dock – where the most sensitive technology sits: the pull-off rollers of the castor deck, over which the freight containers are pulled from the dolly onto the deck. The idea behind it is as simple as it is effective: a solid square tube with a wall thickness of 10 millimetres will in future absorb the impacts and transfer the approach force into the entire surface – instead of it striking the sensitive system at a single point. Welded-in, chamfered corners act as approach ramps for the dollies.
A material battle straight from the textbook: 10 mm steel does not drill itself on the side. The photos show how our steel fabricators worked hole by hole through the steel with the magnetic drill – on site, adapted to the existing system.
Project profile
- Scope: Custom fabrication and installation of impact protection from square tube (10 mm wall thickness) to protect the pull-off rollers of the castor deck: pre-drilling the tubes and the dock with a magnetic drill, thread cutting, bolting, welding in the corner ramps, painting in matching colour
- Team: 3 steel fabricators
- Project duration: 4 days
- Location: Frankfurt Airport, facility of an international express and parcel service provider
- Special feature: Adaptation and installation entirely on site at the existing system
Why does a loading dock need impact protection?
The short answer: because otherwise the system is destroyed piece by piece. At a loading dock, dollies – the transport trailers for air freight – are manoeuvred and docked by tugs. This happens quickly, often and not always to the millimetre. Every hard knock hits the edge of the system, bends sheet metal, damages rollers and mechanics.
Particularly critical here are the pull-off rollers at the front edge: they pull the freight containers from the dolly onto the castor deck – the roller floor with ball castors on which the containers are then shifted. It was precisely this roller strip that was previously in the front row when a dolly approached too hard. The new impact protection now sits in front of it and intercepts the hits before they reach the conveyor technology.
Impact protection sacrifices itself for the system: it absorbs the impacts, distributes the force and – unlike the loading dock itself – can simply be replaced if the worst comes to the worst. The design is decisive: the approach energy must not act at a single point but must be introduced over a large area. That is exactly why we mounted the solid square tube across the entire front – the force of an approaching dolly is thus distributed over the complete surface.
The welded-in, chamfered corners have a dual function: they close off the structure with a positive connection and act as approach ramps – a dolly approaching at an angle is deflected and slides off instead of getting caught.
How is impact protection made from 10 mm steel – directly on site?
The procedure in five steps:
- Adapting on site: Every loading dock is different – we adapted the structure to the existing system directly at the customer's premises instead of fabricating blind from a drawing.
- Pre-drilling the square tubes: The 10 mm tubes had to be pre-drilled for the bolting – hole by hole with the magnetic drill and annular cutter. The photos show the series of finished drilled tubes.
- Drilling the loading dock and cutting threads: The system itself was also pre-drilled, after which we cut the threads – again with the magnetic drill as a drill stand so that every hole sits exactly.
- Installing and welding in: The tubes were bolted and joined together to form the impact protection; the corners were additionally welded in to create closed approach ramps.
- Painting: Finally, the impact protection was painted in the matching colour of the system – corrosion protection and a clean appearance in one.
The magnetic drill: precision holes in solid steel – without a workshop
Anyone who has ever tried to drill a clean hole through 10 millimetres of steel with a hand drill knows: it will not work. Our solution is the magnetic drill – it adheres directly to the steel with its magnetic base, guides the annular cutter absolutely vertically and brings the necessary force into the material in a controlled manner. Cooled with cutting oil, precise holes are produced in series – even where no pillar drill can reach.
That is exactly what made this project possible: instead of drilling the tubes in the workshop and hoping that everything fits on site, we were able to work directly at the loading dock – adapt, drill, cut threads, bolt. To the millimetre on the existing system.
Why bolt at all instead of just welding? Because impact protection is a wear part: if a segment is damaged after years of hard hits, it can be unbolted and replaced – without grinding on the customer's system.
Airport routine: working where operations continue
Frankfurt Airport is familiar territory for us: maintenance on conveyor systems, emergency stop retrofits, fence repairs in the high-security area – and now the impact protection at the loading dock. Our fitters know the procedures: security checks, access rules, working during ongoing operations, a clean site in a sensitive environment.
And impact protection itself has a tradition with us at the airport: at Frankfurt Airport we have already built several impact protection systems – mostly special fabrications for particular applications, where sensitive machines and plant components have to be protected from collision damage. Every system is different, every guard is designed to fit – from conveyor technology to the loading point.
The same applies beyond the airport: for a production plant near Offenbach we have already fabricated made-to-measure impact protection – following the same principle: anyone can do standard, we build the solution that fits the system.
Why Omega Mounting?
- Made to measure instead of catalogue goods: The impact protection was adapted on site to the existing system – drilling, thread cutting, welding, painting, all from a single source.
- Steel fabrication craft with heavy equipment: Magnetic drill, annular cutter, 10 mm steel – we have the tools and experience for the material battle.
- Well-thought-out design: Force distribution into the surface, bolted segments for replacement, welded-in corner ramps – a guard that takes hits for years.
- Airport experience: Security areas, access rules, working during ongoing operations – routine from many jobs at Frankfurt Airport.
- Impact protection expertise: At Frankfurt Airport we have already built several impact protection systems as special fabrications – plus collision protection for production plants and loading equipment. We know where things crash and how to prevent it.
- Rooted in the region: From Rodgau we are at Frankfurt Airport, in Offenbach, Hanau and the entire Rhine-Main region within minutes – and work throughout Germany.
Conclusion: the hits now strike the steel – no longer the system
Four days, three steel fabricators, one result: at the loading dock, solid impact protection made of 10 mm square tube now absorbs the approach impacts of the dollies – distributed over a large area, with deflecting corner ramps, cleanly painted. The system stays intact, operations continue, and if the guard itself bears scars at some point, it has fulfilled exactly its purpose.
If your loading equipment, plant or hall also needs collision protection that really holds – talk to us.
Request a callback for your project now – Omega Mounting GmbH, Rodgau. Your partner for industrial installation, custom fabrications and collision protection in the Rhine-Main region: Frankfurt, Offenbach, Hanau, Dietzenbach – and throughout Germany.
What else we handle at the airport – with access to the security area and passes already in place – is described at Installation and maintenance at Frankfurt Airport.
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About the author
Tobias Schott
Managing director of Omega Mounting GmbH, Rodgau · more than 20 years of hands-on experience in installation and maintenance
A trained mechatronics technician, at home in maintenance, servicing and industrial installation since 2004 – first alongside his father, and since 2012 with Omega Mounting: from the overhead conveyor in Frankfurt to the crane system in a new-build hall. As appointed person for lifting operations, he plans and leads lifting operations in data centers and on industrial sites in the Rhine-Main region, is an instructor and examiner for cranes, aerial work platforms and telehandlers, and a safety officer. On assignments abroad he is known as the "German Troubleshooter" – the one you call when things get stuck on site. He did not learn what quality means from a manual, but from his father: Made in Germany as a standard for his own work, not as a label. That is why quality comes first at Omega Mounting – before speed and before price. The project diary shows the jobs his team has planned and carried out – without customer names, but with everything that can be learned from them.
Frequently asked questions
A loading dock is the loading point where vehicles dock to hand over freight – at the airport these are mainly tugs with dollies, the transport trailers for air freight and containers. They dock onto a castor deck: a roller floor with ball castors onto which the pull-off rollers at the front edge pull the containers. It is precisely this technology that is sensitive to hard approach impacts – and it was protected here by the impact protection.
Because it is a wear part: bolted segments can be individually unbolted and replaced after years of hard hits, without having to grind or weld on the system itself. Welding is done where a positive connection matters – on this project at the corner ramps.
It makes workshop quality possible on site: the magnetic base adheres directly to the steel, guides the annular cutter exactly vertically and allows precise holes in thick-walled material – where no pillar drill can reach. Thread cutting is also dimensionally accurate with it.
It absorbs the approach energy of the dollies before it hits the system and distributes the force over the entire surface of the solid square tube. The chamfered, welded-in corners additionally act as approach ramps: dollies approaching at an angle are deflected instead of getting caught.
Yes – that was exactly the case here. We adapt the structure on site to the existing system, drill and cut the threads directly on the object and install the guard without the system having to be modified.
Yes. From maintenance on conveyor and sorting systems via repairs in the high-security area to retrofits such as this impact protection – Frankfurt Airport is one of our core areas of operation, with all the necessary security checks. From Rodgau we are on site within minutes.
Yes. At Frankfurt Airport we have already built several impact protection systems – mostly special fabrications to protect sensitive machines and plant components. Added to this is collision protection for production plants, logistics centres and loading equipment – from workshop prefabrication in Rodgau to complete adaptation on site. Anyone can do standard: we build the guard that fits your system.
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